Hi All,
I've had a trawl of some other threads but can't quite find one that fits the problem I have so I hope you all don't mind me starting a new one.
Basically I just got a letter through today saying that I have been refused Contribution Based ESA and the letter doesn't seem particularly helpful in stating what my other options are. The reason cited is that I have not made enough NI contributions. I was encouraged to apply for CB as my partner is a Teacher so Income Based may not apply, but I'm sure about this? Would it still be worth applying for IB now? Am I even allowed to apply through the IB now that I've been refused CB?
The confusing thing is that yesterday I received my application statement and medical questionnaire to fill in and return, should I still do this? I've been off sick since October and my medical and support workers are pretty clear that it could be sometime before I'm ready to return to work.
Any help would be massively appreciated as I'm just hitting dead-ends at the moment.
I've had a trawl of some other threads but can't quite find one that fits the problem I have so I hope you all don't mind me starting a new one.
Basically I just got a letter through today saying that I have been refused Contribution Based ESA and the letter doesn't seem particularly helpful in stating what my other options are. The reason cited is that I have not made enough NI contributions. I was encouraged to apply for CB as my partner is a Teacher so Income Based may not apply, but I'm sure about this? Would it still be worth applying for IB now? Am I even allowed to apply through the IB now that I've been refused CB?
The confusing thing is that yesterday I received my application statement and medical questionnaire to fill in and return, should I still do this? I've been off sick since October and my medical and support workers are pretty clear that it could be sometime before I'm ready to return to work.
Any help would be massively appreciated as I'm just hitting dead-ends at the moment.